Hungarian government: 900 food products cheaper, price-monitoring platform extended
A government-mandated cap on markups for some staples has reduced prices of 874 food products by 17.7pc on average, Róbert Zsigó, a state secretary at the Culture and Innovation Ministry, told commercial television channel TV2 media on Wednesday.
Zsigó said prices of around 70 products had increased, adding that the circumstances would be scrutinised. He said the impact of the measure was expected to show up in April inflation data, and a decision on whether or not to keep the cap in place or take further steps would be taken at the end of May.
Zsigó noted that supermarket chains that failed to comply with the markup restrictions would face fines of HUF 5m per product category. He said dairy prices had fallen the most, pointing to an earlier 68pc profit margin on milk, a 70pc markup on yoghurt and a 129pc markup on sour cream.
In a video message on social media on Wednesday, National Economy Minister Marton Nagy said the government could extend the range of products affected by the markup cap if retailers increase the prices of products not subject to the cap.
22 product groups added to price-monitoring platform
An online platform that monitors the prices of a broad range of food products at Hungary’s biggest supermarket chains has been expanded to include an additional 22 product groups.
With the addition of various meat and processed meat, fish, dairy, rice, bread roll, cocoa and coffee products, the number of product categories on the platform increased to 100, Hungary’s competition office GVH said. Launched in the summer of 2023 as part of government measures to spur competition and bring down food price inflation, the platform features daily price comparisons at Aldi, Auchan, Lidl, Penny, Spar and Tesco.
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